Hot for Teacher
by mosylu
Summary: Linda tries to recruit a new student for the soccer team, and tries not to notice how hot he is. Because she's a teacher, and she doesn't do that Mary Kay Letourneau crap. AU, sequel to High School Never Ends. Features Wally West


(A/N): boniferhasty, bless her shipper heart, asked me for some WallyxLinda just after I'd posted High School Never Ends to Tumblr. Since my brain was still in that AU space, here's what I came up with.

* * *

The soccer ball hurtled toward Linda Park's face. Without breaking stride, she caught it squarely in both hands. Without goalie gloves, her palms stung wickedly, but she was too used to the sensation for it to make her drop the ball.

The boy who'd kicked it wheezed as he jogged up to her. "Wow! Sorry, Coach."

"It happens, Jared," she said easily. "You guys sign up for this field?" She knew they hadn't. Kids who wanted to play pickup games at lunch had to check in with her, and use school equipment. The lime green and acid yellow ball in her hands was definitely not property of Kreisburg High School.

"Wha - uh, no, but it's cool, right? We're studying!"

"Studying," she said, surveying the mess of boys and a few girls who came jogging up to her. "Yeah, I see that. You're studying real hard."

"We are, though," said a tall black boy toward the back of the group."Newton's Laws of Motion."

"Aha," she said. "So, an object in motion will remain in motion - " She dropped the ball and kicked it over the kids' heads.

He leapt straight up, his long body arching, and caught it. "Until another force acts upon it. Like my hands."

"Or your head."

"Or my knees." He juggled the ball from knee to knee a few times, then let it drop between his feet, dribbled it a few more times, and lightly passed it to Sarah Cross.

While Sarah passed it to the next kid in a game they'd clearly been playing already, the boy said, "Mr. Ramon was dropping heavy hints about a pop quiz on the laws of motion tomorrow, so we thought we'd have a study session. I didn't know we had to sign up, though."

"That's all right. Next time." She pointed out her office. "Just stick your head in there. I'm always around, or there's a whiteboard."

"Sure thing." He grinned at her. "Thanks, Coach."

She found herself smiling back. She hadn't seen him around, but he had to be a senior. He had broad shoulders but a lean torso, outlined by a snug-fitting white tank top under a loose, open shirt. His dark-copper skin gleamed with sweat, and oh holy shit, _she was not looking at a student that way._

She cleared her throat. "Listen up."

Her coach voice paused the passing drill.

"I didn't really come out here to give you guys crap about not signing up for the field. That was a bonus."

The kids laughed.

"Tryouts for the co-ed soccer team are next week. And after watching this study session of yours, I'd better see some of your names on that website, you got me?" She looked around. "Jared, I know you are, and Hernando, I saw your name, awesome. DeShawn? Connie? Ismail? Sarah? Yeah?"

The kids she picked out nodded or blushed or made little noises of affirmation.

"And you."

"Wha - me?" The boy blinked at her.

"What's your name?"

"Uh. Wally. Wally West."

"Okay, Wally Wally West, are you gonna try out?"

Some of the kids started to giggle, apparently at Wally's befuddlement.

"I hadn't planned on it," he said.

"Yeah, well, plan on it. The team could use somebody like you."

"Uh - uh - okay. Sure."

She nodded, feeling more in control. "Hey, guys, you've got about eight minutes until fifth period. Pack it in, huh?"

The kids scattered for the sidelines, picking up backpacks, checking phones, chugging water. Wally lingered.

"Wally West," she said. "Any relation to Ms. West-Allen?"

"My aunt."

"Oh, nice." Now that she thought about it, Iris had been saying something yesterday about her nephew starting school here. Linda hadn't been paying too much attention because she'd been agonizing over the sparse sign-ups for the soccer tryouts. She'd thought distantly that it must be tough on the kid, switching to a new school. High school was about the worst time to do that. "Well. You'll like Kreisburg."

"Yeah, I do. So … Coach."

"Yeah?"

He grinned at her, hazel eyes dancing. "If I make the team, does that mean I get personal coaching sessions?"

She raised her brows. "Yeah, you sure will. My assistant coach would love to work with you. His name is Gunter and he could bench-press three of you."

Wally cracked up. "Listen, I - "

She turned on her heel. "Get to class, Wally."

* * *

After the last bell, she stopped in the office to pick up her mail. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and when she checked it, there was a text from the physics teacher that just said, _Brownies!_

She texted Cisco back. **Who from?**

 _My new student teacher. Nom nom._

Oh, excellent. As long as Principal Singh's husband hadn't been baking again, she was willing to try anything. Linda cut through the office and headed for the teacher's lounge.

When she walked in, Wally West had just picked up a brownie.

"Hey," she said. "This is the teacher's lounge."

"Sure is," he said, taking a healthy bite.

"Look, just because you're related to a teacher doesn't mean you can come in here and eat all our brownies, okay? Out." She made a shooing motion with her mail.

"Aww, you're so mean," he whined, grinning, not moving an inch. "Why you so mean, Coach?"

"Not kidding around here, Wally. Get gone."

"I'm not done with my brownie."

"Kid, so help me - "

"Any brownies left?" Iris West-Allen scamper-waddled into the teacher's lounge and pounced on the plate. "Yum! Wally!" She gave him a big hug, brownie clutched in one hand, and he wrapped his arms around her eight-months-pregnant middle. "Sooooo? How was your first day?"

"It was awesome!" he said, his face lighting up. "I had a study session on the soccer field and I think some of them really got Newton's laws, right? Like, really got them."

"That's amazing!" She hugged him again. "Linda! Hi! You met Wally already? Great!" Chocolate or pregnancy hormones or the end of the day or her nephew had only amped up Iris's natural vivacity. Maybe all of those combined. "Did you get one of his brownies? He makes the best brownies in the Western Hemisphere."

Linda frowned. "Wait, I thought Cisco's student teacher made those."

"Uh, yeah, that's what I said."

Wally began laughing silently.

"But - " Linda looked from Iris to Wally, who was now so tickled that he'd folded over, resting his head on his aunt's shoulder. "Ohhhhh. Ohohohoho. You - !"

"What?" Iris frowned, then smacked Wally with the mail from her cubby. "What'd you do? What did you tell Linda?"

"Nothing, Iris!" he gasped, ducking away from her. "Nothing! She just - " He started laughing again.

Linda shook her head, pursing her lips. Once she actually looked, she could see that his shirt, now buttoned up and tucked into his jeans, was a classy pinstripe, and his shoes were shiny leather lace-ups. Not exactly a student look.

Though to be fair, the guy who was supervising him regularly wore nerdy t-shirts and beat-up sneakers to teach, so it wasn't like there was much of a dress code in the science hall. "Just for that," she announced, "I'm taking two brownies." She did, and plopped herself down on the couch across the room.

A little cluster of English teachers came in just then, like treat-seeking missiles, and Iris took the opportunity to show off her nephew, leaving Linda to eat her brownies in peace.

After she'd downed one of them - and wow, Iris hadn't been lying, she could eat this forever - Wally came to sit down by her. "I'm sorry," he said, though his eyes were dancing again and dimples kept winking in his cheeks as he smiled then tried to stop himself from smiling. "I didn't even realize what you thought until you asked if I was trying out for the team."

"Yeah, well, my fault, too," she said. "For assuming. But you could've said something."

"I tried, but you told me to get to class."

She shook her head, laughing at herself. "Well, you're forgiven, just for these brownies."

"Oh, nice, I see how it is. Well, maybe I'll consider forgiving you, if you come with me to the Stars game on Saturday."

She sat back, brows raised. "Oh, nice, I see how it is. Because I'm a PE teacher, I must love all sports?"

He shook his head. "Nope. When I went by your office after fifth to explain, I saw the pennant over your desk."

"Mmm. Recon. Interesting." And he'd come by? More interesting. Still - "Wally, you're what, twenty-one?"

"Scuse me, twenty three."

"And how old do you think I am?"

"Ooo. Minefield."

She rolled her eyes. "I don't care about that crap. Come on, how old?"

"Twenty-fffffffffffff- " He looked her over. "-ive?"

"Suck-up. Twenty-eight. Which makes me five years older than you."

"Double standard much? You know if I was some cute young sister, Wanda West - "

She snorted.

"And you were the hot manly coach - "

"Min-Jae Park?"

He pointed at her. " - then you wouldn't be saying that."

"Ah, I so would, because CCUSD's HR department would too."

He waved a hand. "Whatever. My aunt and uncle met in this very room and they've been married for three years. Cisco and the bio teacher are gaga for each other, and if they don't get engaged by the end of the semester, Barry owes me ten bucks. You can't tell me the school district really comes down very hard on stuff like that."

"It's a little different with a student teacher, trust me."

"I'm not gonna be a student teacher forever, Linda."

It was the first time he'd said her name, and something about the way his tongue rolled over the syllables made her stomach jump. Or maybe it was hunger. She stuck her second brownie in her mouth. "Well, that's what you are now, and I'm a here-and-now kind of girl."

"That's all right," he said, stretching out his long legs. "Myself? I keep one eye on the future."

FINIS


End file.
